The Queen and the Shepherd
by TheSolist
Summary: Everything was lost. With nothing left to live for, the Zerg search for a new home. And find salvation with the help of their Queen and a seemingly insignificant human, who would prove to be one of the most important individuals in their existence. And the most important for their Queen.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, let's try this thing. My first attempt at a story, I hope it is to your satisfaction.

As you can see soon, I'm not much of a writer. I have no experience or skill whatsoever, so I hope you can forgive me for that.

Nevertheless, I truly do hope that you'll enjoy this at least a little bit.

* * *

_75,000 years._

In the grand scheme of the universe, such an amount of time doesn't seem like much. Spending it in the void between the galaxies was something else entirely. But, being in a self-induced coma helped to shorten the perception of time and despite being a crutch, immortality had its advantages.

More than being helpful in healing and rebuilding a severely injured body, the coma proved to be a reprieve for a wounded soul. When one's race was the only surviving force in a battle of the universe and subsequently losing everyone and everything you had, some peace of mind was not much to ask for.

Leaving behind an inhabitable galaxy, said race was forced to search for a new home; a home where one could live without having to kill and fight for everything. In essence, a home where the zerg could live in peace. But finding a suitable galaxy to colonize would not be an easy feat. Overlords would be each be filled with a brood mother egg and then sent out into the never-ending void. One was told that such a thing would require patience.

Again, a coma was proving to be handy.

But sadly, each galaxy showed the same result: in rare cases, it was not habitable, in most cases though, the galaxy's native races would not accept the existence of such an abomination and thus would resort the same tool: violence.

This procedure had gone on for tens of thousands of years; though this galaxy was different. The beginning was, as always, the same: they had come to simply exist; the other races felt threatened and armed themselves. They had fought valiantly.

But, unlike other scenarios, they had won, against all odds.

* * *

Abathur had been intrigued by this galaxy. Further investigation might have brought interesting results. But her orders were clear, finding a world, where fighting for the right to exist would not be necessary, was the main goal. When there would be any sign of a possible co-existence with the native races, the search would be over. He didn't want to displease her; doing so would have been unpleasant. But the search in this galaxy wasn't completely over, as one egg had remained flying around in that galaxy's space.

Surprisingly, Abathur didn't have to wait long for results with that particular egg. Instead of being able to land on an uninhabited planet, the egg was picked up in space and brought somewhere, probably to be experimented on. Probing, cutting, scanning; they were not gentle, even after the egg had hatched. Those primitives wanted to use the "rachni", as they were called, against enemies of a certain "Saren".

Abathur rarely showed any form of emotion, thus it came to a huge surprise when he sensed apprehension of the brood mother. Did she fear her impending death? While a mother perishing was nothing uncommon – it had happened in every other galaxy – her fear of doing so, was something new. Maybe the circumstances of dying alone in a laboratory without any hatchlings by her side were the reason.

Then, after several years of rigorous torture, that emotion turned into full-fledged fear. Through the psionic link between him and the brood mother, Abathur could sense what was happening. Her captors and an invading part were in a violent dispute about said "Saren" witch subsequently ended with the death of the research leader. One member of the victorious faction seemed to be emotionally connected to that leader, but that didn't interest Abathur.

In front of the brood mother's holding cell stood a being with a striking resemblance of a terran. It was evident, that the brood mother was anxiously awaiting the further actions of that individual. To save herself, she used a fallen corpse to communicate with her potential executioner. A short conversation filled with words of plea ensued.

Startled, Abathur promptly sent word to Izsha. It seemed their search was finally over, for a native did something unexpected.

It had shown mercy.

* * *

After sleeping for 75,000 years, it was time for the Queen of Blades to wake up.

* * *

A/N: So, what do you think?

Should there be any mistakes concerning typing, grammar and the likes, please tell me.

Also, should there be any plot holes in the futere, I would be thankful, if you'd point them out. In additon, I wouldn't be opposed to any ideas about the future of the story, because I just went with it here, I don't know how this'll end up.

I'm not a fast writer, and as you can see, it's not much eiter. Sadly, I'm a prime example of a lazy person.

Looking forward to any reviews and comments.


	2. Chapter 2

Aloha.

Here we are, another chapter. Numero deux!

Don't look at me like that, I told you: Me is lazy! I can't help myself...

Oh well, what can I say? Sorry? Pardonnez-moi?

Anyway, here we go!

* * *

Darkness.

It was all enveloping, swallowing her whole. But despite the lack of light, she knew that it was darkness; it was "something", not "nothing". That was a most welcome change. Sense of time had long since eluded her; as such she didn't care if it passed at all. For her, the time spent in her self-induced coma had flown by in a couple of heartbeats, a couple of minutes at most. Galaxies could have gone extinct, worlds could have crumbled, nations could have been eradicated. All in a couple of heartbeats. And she found that she didn't care for it.

But that didn't matter now. The mere fact that she was feeling "something" told her, that she was being told to "wake up" from her slumber. She didn't want to, but she had – maybe too liberally – given her subordinates much authority over the Swarm. Maybe she shouldn't have given Abathur "wake up" duty. _Why didn't I give this job to Stukov? He'd have forgotten it by now..._

But, alas, all was for naught. If she had to wake up, why not find out what happened in her absence?

* * *

Chapter 2

The Queen Awakens

* * *

"_You shall not take me!"_

A sudden flash of excruciating pain took over. Suddenly her mind exploded with images and memories she could not place. They passed in such a flurry that she couldn't even focus on them; in the end the only thing she could see were vaguely familiar faces which either caused short bouts of warmth or intense flares of pure rage.

She was having an intense flashback. The likes she has never had in her days as a Terran Ghost.

Slowly but surely she could find a correlation between image and memory.

Amon dying at her hands, she herself being near at death's door.

Destruction all around her. In her quest to destroy this monstrosity she had to create countless Zerg troops. Planet after planet, system after system had to be occupied to create her brood. In the end, no home was spared for the creation of her army.

In the wake of this epic fight, a whole galaxy had been forsaken. Trillions of lives had been eradicated.

* * *

"_Don't be angry with yourself, darlin'. We both knew it could've come to this."_

'_Another flashback, when will it end?' _Those memories were becoming an inconvenience.

His blood-stained face came to haunt her. The love and adoration still evident in his eyes. She knew he still loved her, even if he had said they were "through". Seeing him like this, broken and bloodied, just made it hurt more. There was nothing she could've done at the time.

Amon's troops had done a great job at destroying everything she had known. His "check mate" came in the form of the utterly destroyed body of one James Raynor, leader of the Raynor's Raiders. The Raiders, along with many troops of the former Dominion, assisted in the final fight against the Dark One. What ever happened to the Protoss, she still didn't know. Not that she cared for it.

He was dying. She didn't have to read his thoughts to know that. And she didn't have to read them, that he was ready for the eternal void to take him beyond. He seemed to be welcoming it with open arms.

"_It was a great ride, wasn't it, Sarah?"_ He wasn't even looking at her anymore, his gaze somewhere above.

He was ready to go. They both knew it was time to say their last farewells.

"_The best…"_ was all she could say. Her vision was blurry, her cheeks dampened with tears. The Queen of Blades was crying. After everything she had lost, the most powerful being in the known galaxy was crying.

"_No tears, Sarah. I never liked to see you cry…" _She could only give a short smirk. _Flatterer, even when dying._

"_I'm sorry, Jim." _There was nothing she could say. Emptiness had taken hold of her.

"_Don't be. It's not your fault. You know that." _He was right. It was Amon's fault and he being destroyed was all the revenge there could ever be.

"_I'm sorry, too, Sarah. For not being able to stay with you, for leaving you."_ He was apologizing to her. For whatever reason.

"_It's okay, Jim. I understood it then and I can understand it now."_ She didn't want him to die with regrets. He had to be able to go in peace.

"_Cold. It's cold, Sarah…"_ His eyes were half-lidded, his breathing labored. It was time.

"_I'm here, Jim. You did well. You can go now. It's over."_ Tears were dripping from her chin onto his face.

With one last breath, James Raynor passed away. He left with his head held high and a smile on his face.

"_Goodbye, Jim."_

She looked at his peaceful smiling face.

"_Thank you, for everything…"_

A long journey has ended. Time for a new one.

* * *

"Mother!"

She didn't know what to feel as she saw Liara join her dying mother on the platform. The only thing Jane Shepard could feel was a certain emptiness. After the heat of the fierce battle had passed and most of the adrenaline had left her system Matriarch Benezia just looked like a number; another casualty caused by Saren. Her subconscious was telling her to be furious with the rogue Spectre; to curse him till the ends of the galaxy. It was telling her to go to Liara and at least try to console her. But she couldn't. When she tried, images flew through her mind.

Countless humans impaled by Dragon Teeth and turned into mindless cybernetic zombies on Eden Prime; Shepard had to kill things that used to be people: mothers, fathers, children.

A whole colony mind-controlled by the Thorian and ordered to attack her and her team; she didn't see any other possibility but to defend herself and her crew: countless people dead. In the wake of this whole ordeal such casualties were becoming mere drops in the ocean.

Leaving Kaidan Alenko behind on Virmire - almost having had to kill Wrex mere hours before; it just left a nasty taste in her mouth.

And now Liara's own mother. Another casualty. More blood spilt.

She wanted to blame Saren, but in the end it was she who pulled the trigger. And she pulled it a lot. Countless thermal clips used, innumerable weapons thrown away to be replaced by upgrades or newer versions of said weapon, just to kill more, to kill faster. Shepard knew that Saren had to die; arresting and detaining him had never crossed her mind, it never became an option. But with every shot, every drop of blood, every death lying in her wake, she died a little bit herself. The lines between her and Saren were slowly becoming blurred.

And now she had to deal with a Rachni queen. The day couldn't have gotten worse.

* * *

"Awaken."

Her eyes sprung open without giving her brain permission to do so. _Stupid brain. Making me do things…._ It was weird that she reprimanded her own brain for the simple act of thinking. She knew it should have been a good thing that she could think but doing so brought up memories she had to violently suppress. She was not yet ready to face her violent past. The only thing she wanted to concern herself with right now was the present.

She tried to move but her body didn't respond. Everything felt as if she was held down by a ton of iron. At least her eyelids had complied. Looking around, all she could see was green. Her hearing was as if she was submerged in liquid. _Must be a spawning pool_, she thought. Nonetheless, she could hear the voice clearly, as if it was in her head. It felt slightly familiar.

"No muscle atrophy. Body in excellent physical condition. Paralysis due to extended coma. Should be resolved in due time."

_Abathur, of course._ A being she disliked and distrusted as the remade Queen of Blades and knew she despised when she was the old Queen. Looking up - or at least what felt like up to her -, she could make out a dark shape above the surface of the green liquid, its glowing eyes looking at her from beyond.

Beside Abathur another shape began to form.

"Welcome back, my Queen. It is time for you to rise again."

The soothingly feminine voice indicated that it was Izsha, who had spoken. She wanted to scream at them, order them to put her back to sleep. _How dare they order the Queen of Blades to wake up?_ But there was no menace in her thoughts, no bite. In the end, there was just calm acceptance. Whatever was going to happen should be so.

She wanted to get her bearings. Wanted to know the reasons for being woken up. And she wanted to know how long it has been. But she wasn't able to speak.

"It has been approximately 10,000 years since we left our home, my Queen."

10,000 years? As a Terran, this timeframe would've been enormous. But being immortal, such a long time was just a blink of an eye. It didn't matter to her.

"We have followed you instructions and can finally report a positive result."

_What? She couldn't mean…could she?_

"We have a new home."

* * *

A/N: Okay. So, what do you think?

Was it worth the wait? (I sure hope so)

Anyway, I hope you'll like it.

Relax, read, review, etc.

Also, I want to reiterate, that should someone of you have some sort of idea for this story, don't hesitate to PM me or something. I'm like a scientist dog, I don't know what I'm doing here. I'm just going with it.

Thank you, and goodbye.

- The Soilst


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